School is Back in Session!

Today was the first day of school at Front Porch Academy!
And though i had hoped to have pictures to share and despite the fact that we got off to a later start than anticipated it was still a successful beginning.
This year we will be working through "Rome to the Reformation" from My Father's World. Though today was a "light" day, intended to ease us into the school year we still learned quite a bit.
First, we went through the Roman numerals-both the characters and names for numbers 1-10, 20-100 and 1,000. Then we learned the legend of Romulus and Remus along with some other Roman history.
Tomorrow will be a little more involved as we continue to gradually beef up our schedule. On the agenda are: "How the Bible Came to us"(Bible History), Roman Lands Today(map) and "Inside the Human Body(science). I will also be reading to them about the Roman Republic and we can not forget math and writing!
Whew! It really looks to be an exciting year already.
My prayer is that even as our enthusiasm ebbs and flows we will continue to put our best foot forward.
With that thought in mind i am going over our material for tomorrow and thanking God that i am able to teach my children at home.

The Truth About Boys

Before i vent let me just say, i really do love my boys. Today has just been one of those days where i look at each one and wonder why they can't be as "easy" as my little girl.
Rachel cleans up after herself. She knows what her boundaries are and stays within those boundaries most of the time. If Rachel is unsure about something she asks someone who does know and listens to what she is told.
When it comes to the boys i follow the popsicle wrappers, spills, crumbs, toys and other tell tale signs to find them. The path of destruction never fails to lead me to them. No matter how many times i tell the boys not to do something or to stay away from something i know i will have to tell them many more times before they comprehend. Even after several warnings and threats it still sometimes takes an experience through disobedience before they learn their lesson. Sometimes it even takes repeated experiences to get their attention. Instead of asking what might happen if someone were to put their fingers in the path of the van's automatic door while it is closing a boy will try it on his own and find out the hard way. (Yes, this IS a true story and one that scared Jeremy and me when it happened!)

Now someone with a son reading this will know what i am talking about and where i am coming from. Those without sons may wonder.
This is where i have to say there really never is a dull moment with boys around and i do love having sons. When i worked at a daycare before having children of my own i knew i wanted a boy. Boys were always the ones to come up and give me the biggest hugs and they were the ones who loved to run, slide, jump and build. I figured if i could have at least one boy and one girl i would have it made. Then i had one girl and three boys!
It seems you hear so much about the bond between father and daughter but you don't hear as much about the mother/son relationship unless it is twisted and the mother is making the grown up son's wife miserable. Too bad, because the bond between a mother and son is just as wonderful and uexplainable as that between the father and daughter.

So while i watch my boys grow and as i cringe at some of the things they do i thank God for their differences. If it weren't for a boy's sense of adventure and inquisitive nature where would mankind be? Yes, they are different from girls but boys, like girls, also reflect different facets of the One who created us both. Now THAT is something to be grateful for.

I love you, Brogan, Reece and Sawyer!

What I Cannot See

So we do not focus on what is seen, but what is unseen; for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18

There are things i just cannot see but i know they exist. I cannot see the air i breathe but without it i would cease to be. I cannot see see the wind but i feel it upon my skin and see its movement in the trees. The thoughts of others i cannot see but i hear them as they are spoken to me. Though i have never seen love i have known its manifestations. I hear it in the voices lifted in worship on Sunday morning. I see love expressed in the kindness of strangers. I feel love in my husband’s embrace and in my children’s good night kisses. I cannot see love but i know it exists. God is love and without Him i would not be.

“Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God knows God. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and His love is perfected in us.” 1 John 4:7&12

The Father's Love

Created for His pleasure, you are to Him a priceless treasure and He loves you without measure. You are always on His mind. His thoughts of you are the loving kind, no greater love will you ever find. He calls you His child and that is nothing to be taken mild. Child of God, His love for you is wild! Like a fire not to be tame, the Father’s love is an eternal flame because the Father and His love are the same. These things i write at this time are much more than a nice rhyme. These words are true-the Father’s love for you is sublime!

Like Daddy

Rachel has your heart for helping others,

Brogan has your knack for encouragement,

Reece has your sense of humor

And Sawyer has your curiousity and love for working with his hands.

Each child is so different

Yet each one has so much of you in them.

And in their hearts they each share a love,

For you, their Daddy!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, JEREMY!

WE ALL LOVE YOU VERY MUCH.

What to do?

Finally. A few moments of peace and quiet at the end of what has been a busy day in the midst of a hectic week.
It is during the crazy times such as this that i long for a less demanding schedule. But then i wonder what i would do if i had nowhere to go and nothing pressing to do.
Tonight was the last of the children's soccer games and next week will be our last week of school. It is difficult to say who is more excited, the children or me.
We all have some pretty big plans for our summer vacation. To keep our minds sharp we will continue our studies without the structured classroom setting. Trips to the library, parks and other places will provide nice, stimulating outings when we need them. There is also a week of VBS that everyone is looking forward to.
I am hoping to make lots of pictures and paint some masterpieces! I'm just kidding about the masterpieces but i am hoping to break out the paper, pencils and watercolors and see what kind of creations come from the inner artist who is screaming to be let out. My reading list is also growing and i want to start reading some of the many titles collecting on that list. I would also like to start writing and blogging again regularly. There is way too much on my mind to keep it all locked up inside.
Well, with all the plans we have summer should be anything but dull. And you know how plans are...there are sure to be some surprises along the way. The next few weeks should be interesting and i am looking forward to making the most of every one of them!

Praise the God of Opportunity

Tonight i had the honor of meeting two brave ladies who will be doing the step study with me starting next week. I would have missed this wonderful opportunity had i let the enemy convince me that it was not worth the trouble to get out in the rain and cold with four children to go into town for a couple of hours. Oh, he tried every trick in the book-i have come to expect this of him. He reminded me my failures today and told me how unworthy i was to be around people who desire change and did not need me to waste their time. After listening to the accusations and lies(why do i listen?) it finally ocurred to me that he was trying awful hard to prevent me from going so it must be very important that i do go. It was with prayer and supplication that i headed out the door and it is with thanksgiving and praise that i share this experience now.
What a shame it would have been to have missed out. What a blessing to have gone and met these wonderful women! Now i have two more names to mention in my prayers tonight and faces to match. Thank You, Father, for every time i have needed encouragement and affirmation You have provided.
Yes Lord, You ARE in control!

The Tongue as a Fire

"And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and is set on fire by hell." James 3:6 As promised, i wrote James 3 tonight. After a day of dealing with loud,boisterous children i was dreading looking into what James had to say to the likes of me but i knew i had to do it. God is teaching me and if i run from His instruction i will never learn. So when the kids went to bed early i knew what i was going to do. I have to admit i had been looking forward to their bedtime today because it has been one of those days when frustration has gotten the best of me and my mouth. I don't know how many times i have had to go back and put out fires that i have started with careless,angry words. Of course, the damage had already been done but maybe it was lessened a bit as i confessed my foolishness by not guarding my lips. Children can be so forgiving just as the Father is forgiving but i sure am tired of my tongue being used as an instrument of unrighteousness. Yet the choice is mine to make. How will i choose tomorrow and the next day and in all the days to come? Help me, Lord to remember the sin shall not have dominion over me as long as i am living under Your grace. "And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace." Romans 6:13&14

Nine Years ago Today

Seems like just yesterday, But it is actually nine years today, God blessed me in such a sweet way. This little girl with big brown eyes and a headful of curls came into the world with a whimper and a cry and an outstretched hand. Immediately she took hold of her Daddy's heart and mine too. Now the curls are gone but the big brown eyes are the same and so is the hold on all our hearts. And though she is another year older she will always be my little girl. But first she is God's and that is good to know because though i love her so i can never love her like He. And on this "special" day i say another prayer of thanks for such a special girl. Happy Birthday Rachel. You are so loved.

Let me tell you About my Children

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward." Psalm 127:3 Sooner or later it was bound to happen. As i have already stated and many of you already know, i am a Mama. And now the Mama in me is coming out! You have heard enough about me. Now let me tell you about my children! Yes, there are four of them and three of them are boys. Rachel is the oldest and the only girl but don't pity her, she can handle herself nicely. She is a tomboy, you see, and so proud of it! Brogan (far right) is the oldest boy who loves "Indiana Jones" and wants to be an archealogist one day. Reece (far left) is our middle man and resident commedian with a very contagious laugh. Sawyer(middle) is the "baby boy". You can see in the picture he is no baby and he isn't even the smallest but he is the youngest so that distinction is still his. He is also the one who is most likely to turn out like "Tom Sawyer". Little did we know that when we named him he would be so much like the character himself. Each child is so special and a gift from God. As they grow each day i learn a little more about their strengths and talents. They share their dreams and fears with me and i want to hear it all, to encourage them the best i can. My biggest hope for each of them is that they will be comitted Christians, bold in their faith. Jeremy and i want them to be better and stronger than we have been in our faith so we are as honest as we can be about our failures and weaknesses. We try to show them God's love so they know that nothing will change our love for them but more importantly that God's love for them is unchanging and eternal. I think they are learning quite well. For the gift of children i am grateful. Thank You, Father!

The Artist

These are the lyrics to a song that a friend shared with me and i loved it so much i posted it on my other blog, Mosaic of Grace. The name of the song is "The Artist" by Mike Johnson. It was on an album from the 70's. Neither the song nor the singer ever made the big time and that is a shame because these words are beautiful. The Artist paints a landscape,filled with trees and mountains,colors of joy all around.Sheep and deer and lions living together,two children playing on the ground.The vandal hammers in,crosses out the picture,blood red paint dripping down;he hands the children brushes and he calls the paint wisdom,they spread the colors all around.Blood and paint mingle,the colors run together;you can't tell art from happenstance.The children are crying and they know they must be dying --who will give them another chance?The Artist paints a city,scenery's still pretty,children and babies play;the painting has been marred and the edges have been charred,but there's beauty in youth anyway.The vandal hammers in,crosses out the picture,blood red paint dripping down;he hands the children brushes and he calls the paint wisdom,they spread the colors all around.Blood and paint mingle,the colors run together;you can't tell art from happenstance.The children are crying and they know they must be dying --who will give them another chance?The Artist paints a manger,the birth of a baby,and puts his brushes away;he steps into the pictureand he touches his creations and he lives with them day by day.A hillside has been painted where a cross is standing on which the Artist dies;the vandal is leering from behind the jeering of a thousand painted eyes.To the horror of the vandal,the Artist is standing,brushes and palette in his hand;he erases the vandal and all who believe him --paints the beauty of a thousand lands.He touches the children,every face is smiling,then he steps inside,with the kiss of his lips and the touch of his breath the children in the painting come alive!The Artist paints a landscape,filled with trees and mountains,colors of joy all around.Sheep and deer and lions living together,children are playing on the ground.He touches the children,every face is smiling,then he steps inside;with the kiss of his lips and the touch of his breath,the children in the painting come alive.